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China's top ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing, said on Friday it has raised more than $5.5 billion to expand its business overseas and develop artificial intelligence technology.

The company will invest in big-data, driving technologies, and smart transport architecture, it said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Didi on Friday declined to comment on which investors participated or on the valuation.

Didi is also exploring investment in core technology, it said. The firm led a $100 million investment in Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 in January and opened a research lab in Silicon Valley last month dedicated to artificial intelligence and self-driving-tech related research.

Didi CEO Cheng Wei said he was hunting for data scientists in Silicon Valley to develop a self-driving car in an interview with Bloomberg last October.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Didi was set to raise between $5 billion and $6 billion. Sources familiar with the deal valued Didi at more than $50 billion.

Didi drove Uber out of China when the ride-hailing service was unable to turn a profit in the country. Uber China, a regional subsidiary of the ride-hailing service, merged with Didi in a deal worth $35 billion last August.

Apple has invested $1 billion in Didi.

(Danielle Muoio contributed to this report.)

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